SOUND ON SOUND
Another product from New Zealand's Buzz Audio gives you two channels of Class-A preamplification with switchable input impedance.
**** Score = 4/5 stars. These 350 rhythmic stereo loops, at tempos between 40 and 180bpm, are designed to be layered behind your own drum programming to add greater depth and ambient interest.
Much more than just an audio and MIDI interface, Edirol's UA700 also incorporates a preamp with DSP effects, microphone and guitar amp modelling.
This innovative VST Instrument from Steinberg and Wizoo aims to take the donkey work out of producing realistic sequenced guitar parts.
If you're happy with the facilities of your Yamaha console or recorder, but you just want to upgrade the quality of the A-D/D-A conversion, these two cards from Apogee might be just what you're after.
R3 comprises a five-band, fully parametric EQ design plus switchable-slope, variable-frequency high and low-pass filters.
Finding an affordable keyboard with a good weighted action and a healthy selection of sounds suitable for studio and live use isn't as easy as you might think. Could Yamaha's S08 be the Holy Grail?
Kenton's latest take on their affordable hardware control surface concept eschews the faders of previous Control Freaks in favour of 16 knobs. And it manages to be cheaper than the fader versions...
**** Score = 4/5 stars. A combination of melody lines and chordal riffs which evoke the golden age of soul.
Designed to replace the JV1010 as Roland's entry-level synth product, the XV2020 is diminutive, affordable, and crammed with those great XV sounds. But what's it like to use?
Years after releasing their successful OB series of digital drawbar organs under the Oberheim brand, Viscount have updated their take on organ modelling with the new DB series. But the march of progress seems to have executed an abrupt about-turn...
A versatile and cost-effective modular system which can cater for stereo and surround monitoring in both nearfield and midfield applications.
***** 5/5 stars. What does a talented bass player do after developing wrist problems? If you're Thomas Skarbye, you use the capabilities of GigaStudio to develop the ultimate bass sample library.
Tascam's Pocketstudio might not be quite what you'd call pocket-sized, but it does cram an MP3 digital recorder, a General MIDI sound module and comprehensive multi-effects into an impressively small space.
Sonic Reality's new Sampletank-format library comes with a free player.
**** 4/5 stars. We check out this pair of sampled bass guitar titles from respected German developers Yellow Tools.
Using the same improved technology seen within the 02R96, Yamaha's DM2000 provides an upgrade path for those who need more channels, even more hands-on control, and the purest in mic preamplification.
Korg give their creative real-time effects processor a face-lift, adding new algorithms, extra sampling power, and tempo-matching facilities.
Following on from the success of their Xtreme Analog library, Emagic have followed up with two more discs of EXS24 sonic ammunition in the form of Xtreme Digital and Xtreme Hip-Hop.
This new front end from Roland combines two high-quality analogue mic preamps with digital EQ, dynamics, and physical modelling effects. Plus, you can choose to control it from its front panel or from a computer via USB.